District of Nepal · Gandaki Province
Gorkha District: land cover, map and municipalities
Rangeland is the largest land cover in Gorkha District, at 38.5% of its area. Forest covers 35.9% (about the same as the national 41.4%), farmland 1.2%, rangeland 38.5%, built-up land 0.2%, bare land, rock and snow 23.4% and water 0.8%.
Land cover of Gorkha District
Show the numbers
| Class | Share (%) | 95% interval | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban land | 0.2 | 0.0–0.7 | 9 |
| Agriculture land | 1.2 | 0.0–3.5 | 43 |
| Rangeland | 38.5 | 24.7–52.4 | 1,404 |
| Forest land | 35.9 | 21.1–50.7 | 1,308 |
| Water | 0.8 | 0.3–1.3 | 30 |
| Barren land | 23.4 | 7.4–39.3 | 852 |
Latest high-resolution imagery (captured 2011–2026, median 2025-11). Estimated from 25 randomly placed 1.2 km sample windows classified by the Nepal-adapted U-Net; intervals are 95% confidence. How it works.
Gorkha District year by year
Largest changes in the reference map from 2017 to 2025: rangeland +3.0 points, barren land −2.2 points, forest land −0.9 points.
Coloured lines: the U-Net on each year's Sentinel-2 cloudless mosaic, with 95% intervals. Grey: the independent 10 m Impact Observatory map at the same sites. Differences of a few points between years can come from how each year's mosaic was processed, and the 2016 and 2018 mosaics are read less reliably (too little built-up land, too much bare land and water); compare from 2019 on.
Municipalities and rural municipalities of Gorkha District
| Local unit | Area (km²) | Forest % | Farmland % | Built-up % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aarughat | 161 | 71.4 | 0.8 | 0.6 |
| Ajirkot | 198 | 58.2 | 0.2 | 0.6 |
| Barpak Sulikot | 201 | 74.6 | 0.7 | 0.6 |
| Bhimsenthapa | 101 | 72.5 | 3.9 | 1.7 |
| Chumanubri | 1,649 | 9.8 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Dharche | 652 | 37.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Gandaki | 124 | 64.0 | 4.0 | 3.4 |
| Gorkha | 132 | 65.3 | 5.3 | 4.8 |
| Palungtar | 159 | 57.2 | 15.6 | 4.1 |
| Shahid Lakhan | 149 | 74.2 | 1.2 | 2.9 |
| Siranchowk | 122 | 68.9 | 2.2 | 1.5 |
Local-unit land cover is from the 10 m Impact Observatory map (2025), clipped to each boundary.
Fires in Gorkha District each year
Satellite fire detections (NASA FIRMS, VIIRS S-NPP) inside Gorkha District: about 383 a year on average, most in 2016 (960).
Questions about Gorkha District
- What is the forest cover of Gorkha District?
- About 35.9% of Gorkha District is forest (95% interval 21.1–50.7%), roughly 1,308 km², according to the Nepal-adapted U-Net applied to 25 sample sites. That ranks 48th of 77 districts.
- How much of Gorkha District is built-up or urban?
- Built-up land covers about 0.2% (8.6 km²). Gorkha District ranks 59th of 77 districts for built-up share.
- How big is Gorkha District?
- Gorkha District covers 3,646 km² and has 11 local units (municipalities and rural municipalities).
Source: Nepal-adapted U-Net (Khadka & Pradhan 2026) on Esri and EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless imagery; Impact Observatory/Esri 10 m land cover; boundaries: Survey Department of Nepal via OCHA.